UPDATE 2: Earthquake rocks Guatemala, shakes Mexico City

November 7th, 2012 (InsideCostaRica.com) – A magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck off the Pacific coast of Guatemala today at about 10:35am Central America time, rattling buildings as far away as Mexico City and El Salvador.

The quake was centered 124 miles west-southwest of Guatemala City.

People fled buildings in Guatemala City, in Mexico City and in the capital of the Mexican state of Chiapas, across the border from Guatemala, according to the AP.

There are no reports of the shaking being felt, or damages in Costa Rica.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was a possibility of a tsunami, within 100 or 200 miles of the epicenter, but it did not not issue an immediate warning for the greater region.

Guatemala’s emergency management agency said on its Twitter account that it had received preliminary reports of one death from the quake. The local fire department said on its Twitter account that a school had collapsed and eight injured people had been taken to a nearby hospital. Local radio reported widespread power outages and cuts in telephone service.

The magnitude-7.4 quake, about 20 miles deep, was centered about 30 miles off the coastal town of Champerico. In Nicaragua, the country’s disaster management agency said it had issued a local tsunami alert, but there were no immediate reports of a tsunami on the country’s Pacific coast.

A reporter in San Marcos about 80 miles north of the epicenter told local radio station Emisoras Unidas that houses had collapsed onto residents.

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina said in a radio interview that the country had been placed on its highest level of disaster alert and he asked people to evacuate tall buildings as an emergency precaution. The country’s minister of communications and infrastructure told Emisoras Unidas that landslides had cut off several highways in western Guatemala.

A spokesman for El Salvador’s Red Cross told The Associated Press that the quake had been felt throughout the country. He said there had been no local tsunami warning issued. El Salvador’s Civil Protection agency said officials were evacuating some coastal communities as a precautionary measure.

The mayor of Mexico City said no serious damage or injuries had been reported in the city, although many people had fled their offices and homes during the quake.

There are no reports of the shaking being felt, or damages in Costa Rica at this time.

Editor’s note: This breaking news story was based on reports from the Associated Press and local news outlets in Guatemala.  

UPDATE 1: Reuters is now reporting that eight people are confirmed dead.

UPDATE 2: (3:31pm):  The president of Guatemala has stated that the most severe damage has occurred in San Marcos, near the northwestern border with Mexico, and that some 15 people are now presumed dead.  The magnitude-7.4 quake, about 20 miles deep, was centered about 15 miles off the coastal town of Champerico.  There are reports of widespread landslides and people trapped under rubble.